The Corel Draw Graphics Suite 11 ($529 direct) is a business user's dream. It provides a full range of graphics programs for an attractive price. The latest release of the suite updates the three main applicationsCorelDraw, Corel Photo-Paint, and Corel R.A.V.E.with more efficient tools and smarter import/export filters.

Both the vector-based drawing program (CorelDraw) and the vector-based Web-animation program (Corel R.A.V.E.) now support symbols. A great productivity tool, symbols let you store master objects in a library for easy access. In addition, when you edit a master symbol, all instances of that symbol are updated automatically. Both CorelDraw and R.A.V.E. preserve symbols when exporting to sophisticated Web formats such as Flash SWF, SVG, and PDF. This helps reduce file size and improve performance because a symbol is downloaded only once, even though it may be used repeatedly in a movie or graphic.

This release of CorelDraw also delivers a number of new drawing tools. We found that the three-point rectangle and ellipse (which let you control the size and rotation of shapes as you draw them) increased our drawing precision. And the new Polyline tool is simply elegant. The ability to combine straight and curved lines as you draw reduces the need for subsequent editing. The new Smudge and Roughen brushes let you imbue your vector artwork with a hand-drawn look.

This release of Photo-Paint adds two essential Web graphics functions: image slicing and rollover buttons. These internal tools are much more convenient than the script-based slicing in earlier versions of the program, and they offer a robust set of options, such as the ability to apply different compression settings to each slice or auto-slice an image based on object placement.

Photo-Paint borrows advanced masking technology from one of Corel's professional imaging applications: Knockout 2 (part of the procreate product line). As in Knockout 2, the Cutout command uses color similarity to separate objects from the background. We found that the function works well on soft-edged images (such as a furry animal). But be warned: The only way to adjust tolerance levels is to paint or erase portions of the mask outlinea sometimes tedious process.

A number of Photo-Paint's existing filters and tools have been tweaked for improved performance. For example, the red-eye brush now provides more control via a tolerance setting. And a Gaussian blur option makes drop shadows look more realistic.

Version 1.0 of R.A.V.E. exhibited several serious shortcomings, including a lack of navigational behaviors and the propensity to export extremely large Flash movies. Version 2.0 employs several strategies to reduce file sizes, including the noted use of symbols, as well as the option to export type as true ASCII text rather than as curves. Equally important: R.A.V.E. now supports navigational behaviors such as Go To, Play, or Wait for Download. These rudimentary commands can't compete with the power of Macromedia Flash ActionScript, but they do let you build truly usable Flash interfaces.

R.A.V.E. 2.0 can animate even more of CorelDraw's special effects, such as 3-D extrusions and text aligned along a path. That these effects are maintained as vectors when exported to Flash is a plus. But other animated effects (such as drop shadows) are not supported natively by the Flash format and require R.A.V.E. to rasterize them, increasing file size in the process. We could not preview movies internally when they contained sprites or nested animations, but R.A.V.E. 2.0 does support previews in a browser window.

In addition to more efficient SWF export, the import/export filters for all three programs have been updated to include the latest file formats, such as JPEG 2000 and compressed SVG. Photo-Paint now imports the data (such as camera settings) in the EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) format. And Draw preserves layers and transparent backgrounds when exporting Photoshop PSD files.

Corel Graphics Suite 11 won't replace Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, Photoshop, or Macromedia Flash on the shelves or in the hearts of professional designers any time soon. Those tools are more robust and have become must-haves among pros. But with significant new features in each of the three main applications and more stable performance in general, CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11 is a fine choice for business users who can't justify the combined $1,500-plus price tag of the others.

Corel Delivers Affordable Graph...

Corel Delivers Affordable Graphics Suite

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